His Lady
by RimZtheNonForgiveR
Summary: He was drunk again, but he wasn't alone. He proposed again, but this time it wasn't to a mop. Who ever thought that one night would give them the second chance to something thought to have been lost.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Hey guys, it's me again! My first DMC fanfic, I hope you like. I'm having trouble deciding whether I want this to be a whole story or a one-shot so I'm letting you guys vote on that. Summary will change upon decision. Don't forget to review! Well... Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Don't own DMC sorry to disappoint...

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_**His Lady**_

He was nervous.

No, that was an understatement. He was beyond nervous.

He's been trying to figure out a way to this the right way a few weeks now. How to catch her off guard. If she suspected anything, anything at all, she was being real careful not to show it.

Just like he was.

Dante wasn't one to get nervous easily, but when he was with _her_, it was hard to keep his cool. She was an intimidating piece of work. She was independent, and sharp tongued, and smart, and...and _beautiful_.

And he loved her.

He's known this for years. Fifteen years after Temi-ni-gru and he was finally ready to do something about it. He wasn't sure exactly how fond she was of him, but she was carrying something of his, theirs both, and it seemed that his demon heritage didn't matter to her, as it did fifteen years ago.

He hoped.

They'd lived together for some time now, worked together for years. They spent almost every day of the week together, him and her. Sometimes including Trish, but that was when they were visiting.

Vergil could be a handful, but Trish was worse, she talked a lot. So Vergil quiet, Trish loud. Two halves fit for each other. Didn't get any perfect than that.

"Dante, what's wrong?"

Speaking of perfection…

"You're quiet tonight," she paused, "You're_ never _quiet." She shook her ebony flipped head for emphasis.

"Nothing's wr-"

"_Ever_." She gave off one of those rare chuckles that always seemed to put him at ease.

Wanting to keep the subject strictly away from himself, he asked, "So how's the kid doing?"

Her right hand automatically went to her lower abdomen, where that more-than-just-slightly-noticeable bump had formed, "She's behaving for once," she rubbed adoringly, "A little hungry, though."

"Glad _he's_ acting right."

He watched as Lady's body tensed. He would have missed the smooth transfer of her hand to the fork if he blinked, "Are you sure you want to discuss this here?" She waved the utensil threateningly.

Dante in response laughed and waved her off, "_Well_, while you're in the joking mood, I have something to give you." He pulled a white sealed envelope out of his slacks pocket and pushed it across the table towards her.

She in turn picked it up and carefully peeled it open, "Now, what can this be? This wouldn't happen to be the rest of the money you've own me since, how long ago?"

She wasn't watching Dante.

She pulled a folded piece of white-lined paper out instead, "Hmm, I wonder...?"

She still didn't look up.

Lady calmly unfolded it. It took her a while before she finally read it out loud, "Will you marry me?"

When Lady finally looked up, Dante was no where to be found…

Until she looked to her lower-left.

Dante down on one knee bearing a silver diamond clustered ring might have been one of the many things she thought she would never see. Another thing added to her 'Never see Dante, never hear Dante' collection was when he replied, "Yes, Lady. Yes I will."


	2. Chapter 1

_The ruffle of clothing is what woke Dante from a not so peaceful slumber._

_He turned over, in what he was hoping, his own bed to see where the disturbing ruffling was coming from. He never expected to find a slender silhouette getting dressed, rather hurriedly. Maybe he was still a little groggy, but he was sure he recognized it. _

"_Lady?" _

_The figure froze._

_He propped himself on his elbows, taking note of the throbbing in his head. Dante figured that if he got that reaction, then it must've been her, "What're you doing in here?"_

_She was quiet for a moment before she replied, "You know, you _really_ need to stop drinking so much." he noticed her voice sounded shaky, "Demonic powers or not, nobody should consume that amount of alcohol." _

_He would have argued that she was no light weight herself if the object on her left ring finger didn't catch in the dim light coming from the window. Lady, who had been cowering away from him during her explanation, followed his gaze._

_She stared at it for a while before she looked at him, who in turn stared at her. And before Dante could open his mouth to ask about it, she was out the door._

~Lady~

That was a little over three weeks ago. It was also the last time I ever looked him in the eye, which was especially hard since I lived with him. But since I had something important to tell him, it was time we made some eye contact.

I remember the first time I tried to tell Dante I was pregnant. I was about a week and a half weeks into the pregnancy and I wanted to be straight forward with him. But just like everything else in my life, it didn't turn out the way I wanted it. The attempt ended in a rather heated kiss.

Courtesy of Dante.

Right now I was in the middle of attempt number 2 and so far, no good. I was still avoiding eye contact. Not that Dante was making it any better; he was preoccupied with one of his topless model magazines.

We had an awkward conversation going, so when we hit a pause and it seemed that he hit a page where he liked what he saw, I decided to come right out and say it.

"I'm late..."

"…"

Of course it was no "I'm pregnant" but it was close enough, and hopefully Dante would catch on.

It took a moment before he paused mid page turn and gave me most of his attention, I figured he didn't.

Typical idiot.

When I laid out my game plan, I figured I stand while he sat, you know, get some leverage in. Just to make it feel like I was in charge, like I was in control. And because Dante was a great deal taller than me.

But now that I was standing in front of his desk looking everywhere but him trying to find the right words to say to make him understand, while he sat, feet propped up and looking oh-so comfortable, I realized it was a bad decision. The spot-light would be on me.

And because I was taking so long to go on, Dante believed it would be a better time than ever to give me his attention one-hundred percent. I could feel those crystal clear baby blue-grey eyes trying to burn into mine.

I couldn't do it.

"…for a mission. I got a call a couple hours ago," I lied, "client said there were a few lower-level demons in an abandoned building not far from his home. He fears for his life." I rolled my eyes, "I'm gonna go clean it out." With that I turned and walked out the shop. I could feel his eyes on me the whole way out.

I didn't know what was worse, that he knew I was lying because I stopped taking on missions completely one and a half weeks ago, or that he knew I was lying because I wasn't armed.

It could have also been the fact that the phone hasn't rung once all day, but whose wondering.

_Two weeks_

Bad.

No, that wasn't even the word. Terrible- no, horrible. Yes, horrible was more like it. There was actually a long list of words to describe my little predicament. Okay, it was _not_ little at all. It was a slight bump. Wasn't there yesterday, but nothing to worry about.

_Dante will notice._

"I think I know that." I snapped. I glanced about my room, realizing I was the only one occupying it. "Must be going crazy." I shook my head and turned back to my full length mirror, continuing my examination. So into it as I was, I didn't notice the door creak open.

"Hey Lady, i thought I'd just dro-Oh, my holy!"

When I turned I met those exact same blue-grey eyes I had been avoiding for a bit over a month now. The only difference was who they belonged to.

"Shit, Trish, there's a thing called knocking?" I hissed at her. She didn't answer, instead she entered, shutting the door behind her.

I didn't make an attempt to try and hide my almost-bare torso. For one, she was staring right at it, so what was the point. And for another, the room was bathed with sunlight, not to mention the sun picked this particular day to decide that I needed extra warmth.

"How long?" She asked while taking a seat on my bed.

"A little over a month."

Trish was practically glowing, _Shouldn't I be doing that?_ "So, I get to be a grandmother?"

"It's aunt, Trish." I corrected.

"So you really are?" It took a moment for me to realize,

That wasn't Trish.

I didn't even have to look at the door to know who it was, but I did anyway, and for the second time I met blue-grey eyes, "Vergil, I _swear_ to God…" before I could finish my threat, he was out the door.

I really hoped he wasn't about to say something to Dante.

"I guess knocking's out of style now, huh?" I asked Trish while pulling a shirt on. When she didn't answer I turned to her.

I did _not_ like the way she was staring at me.

"Dante doesn't know does he?" When I didn't answer she continued, "You have to tell him."

I knew where she was going with this, "I know."

"So whe-"

"I don't know, okay!"

She was scrutinizing me, "What are you afraid of?"

_He wouldn't want to keep it,_ "I'm not afraid of anything, alright?!" It was more to convince myself that I was being paranoid, than an answer to her.

We sat in silence for a while, Trish probably trying to keep from stressing me further, I just wanted time to think. It wasn't long before the silence was broken.

"I heard screaming…"

_Yep, knocking was definitely out of style, _"That was five minutes ago."

"Yeah, well, I figured everything was fine." He laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

"What do you want, Dante?"

Silence.

I could feel two pairs of the same colored eyes burning into me. One pair accusing, the other, a sense of confusion. It was irritating.

"Don't you have something to do?" I noticed I've been snapping a lot lately.

He seemed to snap out whatever trance he was in, "Oh…yeah. Trish, we gotta go."

"_Right_." She was still giving me that knowing look as she got up and left the room. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"Yeah, _so_," I couldn't help but notice we were the only two left in the room, "duty calls." From the corner of my I could see he was rubbing the back of his head again. "Catch you later." I nodded as I was once again engulfed in silence.

"Well, _that_ was awkward." When I was sure I heard the front door to the shop slam shut, I made my move.

Dante was going to know I was pregnant by the end of the day.

.......

It wasn't long before the mission was complete and he was home sweet home. The first thing he noticed when entering his home was a figure curled up on the couch. Lady was fast asleep.

He noticed she'd been sleeping a lot lately. Not only that but her eating habits were on an all time high. On top of that, she spent an inconsiderable amount of time in the bathroom. If Dante was anything, he wasn't stupid,

He knew it was stomach flu season.

So not wanting to disturb her, he headed to his room. A small pink box with the logo First Response sitting on his bed is what welcomed him in. He knew what the hell it was, he'd seen the commercial enough times on TV to not know what it was.

Dante smiled and headed back down stairs. He wasn't expecting Lady to be sitting up like she had been waiting for him.

She was licking her lips, staring at the floor, "So now you know." Was all she said.

Dante grinned, "I can't believe it!" he seemed pretty ecstatic she noted, "I'm gonna be an uncle!"

Confusion was a major understatement on Lady's part, "What are you talking about?"

"Now it explains why they left so fast!" He was grinning now, "Vergil, that little devil, I knew he had it in him," he gave off a sly smile, "more like he had it in h-"

"Dante!" She cut him off before he could complete his perverted statement, "That," she pointed to the box, "that's not Trish's."

She watched as the smile slipped from his features.

It took a moment for it to sink in. "_No_," he breathed, missing the way Lady flinched, "Patty _wouldn't_…"

She gaped at him, "Are you _serious_?"

And while he pondered his thoughts about Patty, Lady dug in her back pocket. It was time for Plan Emergency. She all but shoved it into his hands and watched as he slowly unfolded it.

Lady wasn't far from ripping her hair out.

He read it silently to himself before reading it aloud, "I'm pregnant?" Dante lowered the paper to look at her; she was still refusing to meet his gaze. He sighed and sat down, "Look," he began, "if this is your way of telling me to cut down on the pizza…"

That was it.

"Dante!" Dante was pretty sure the couch would have flipped over if he hadn't been sitting on it, "That," she pointed to the pregnancy test, "is mine. And this," she pulled her shirt high enough for him to see the bulge, "is ours."

"Dante," she took a deep breath and for the first time in five weeks, looked him in the eye, "I'm pregnant."

Dante was rendered speechless.

"Say something." His silence was making her nervous.

He raked his hand through his hair, "How long?"

She looked down at her hands, "Almost two months."

At that moment he really wanted to yell at her. Demand to know why she had been keeping something that important away from him. But at the same time he was relieved to hear it. It gave him an answer as to why she had been acting so weird around him.

And she looked so guilty. That in itself stopped him from making her feel any worse about the situation. Instead he opted for standing up and pulled her to him, whispering promises of protection into her mane of ebony.

She still felt guilty, he could feel it. And a guilty Lady was a quiet Lady, and a quiet Lady, was a Lady without fire. He wanted to get that fire back.

He held her at arms length, looked her in the eye, and asked in the most serious voice he could muster, "You're sure it's mine?"

The next thing he knew, there was a 9mm (where she stashed it, he had no idea) pointing to a certain part of the male body he'd rather much not want to be pointed at.

_Too much fire!_

"You want to repeat that?"

And for some reason unknown to, the news hit him. Lady was pregnant; with his kid none the less…he was going to be a dad. Nothing in that moment could keep the grin from spreading across his face.

Well, except when Lady pulled the trigger.

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**Pinkie:** Sorry about the whole not update in forever thing!! Gomen, gomen!! I was practically L'inMAO the whole time I was writing it. The most fun I've had in a while actually...that sounded so pathetic...this summer friggin' blows, stupid rain. Well, hope you enjoy'd it as much as I did!! Don't 4get to review, Oh, speaking of the reviews thanx so much for the ones who reviewed last chappie!! Stick around I'll update soonz!! 8D


	3. Chapter 2

_If the Devil was a lady, Lady would be the Devil._

_It wasn't because she had banned him from his precious pizza a few days ago, and _no_, it wasn't because she yelled at him over _every little thing_, not even three months yet and the mood swings were already unbe-fucking-lievable!_

_It also wasn't that she spent his should be pizza money on things for the little runt because that was, he would admit, his fault. _

_He lost a bet._

_But the fact that she had taken his most 'priced' possession, the one thing she hadn't banned him from, but stole anyway, had declared her evil._

_She ate his strawberry ice cream sundae._

_And when you come home from a frustrating, not-worth-the-energy job, and craving your only allowed comfort, you tend to get upset. When he went to confront her about it, the evil pregnant she-devil, figuratively speaking, stretched out on the couch watching TV had one thing, and one thing to say only, _

"_So?" _

So?

"So_," eye twitch, "why'd you eat it?"_

_She didn't even bother him a glance, "I was hungry."_

I was hungry.

_Another twitch, "And you couldn't find anything other than my sundae _why_?"_

"_Didn't feel like it." She yawned, obviously bored with the current conversation._

Didn't…feel…

_He never wanted to hurt something as much as he did at that moment. _

"_And thanks," she started, finally sparing him a glance, "It was delicious."_

_He _really_ wished there was a demon near by._

"Dan~te_!"_

_Ask for a demon and you get Patty…he had to admit that it _did_ come pretty close._

"_Hi, Lady."_

"_Hey." She got up and brushed past him, her eyes set on something, "And who is this handsome boy?"_

_Wanting to know what she was talking, he turned to see the blond-haired, freckle-faced positively aggravating little girl had a blond-haired, green-eyed toddler in her arms, "Oh," she said as she passed him over to Lady, "this is my cousin, Daniel." _

"_Daniel, huh?" She smiled while she watched him toy with her necklace, "He's cute." _

_Dante made a face, "Since when did you have a cousin?" _

_Patty glared at him, "Since two days ago. Got a problem with it?"_

_Dante raised his arms in defense, "Hey, just didn't think there was anyone else to aggravate, you hanging around me and all." She scowled._

"_Yum-yum!"_

_Lady raised an eyebrow, "He talks?"_

"_Yep," she went through a baby bag that was strapped over her shoulder, "Yum-yum just means he's hungry." she said matter-of-factly. _

"_He's not the only one," she said and gave him to Dante, after a little struggling on Daniel's part, slipping his wallet from his pocket in the process, "I could go for a chicken sandwich smothered in oranges and ketchup right about now." Dante and Patty exchanged a look._

_Finally finding what she was looking for, Patty pulled out a box of banana-shaped biscuits and gave them to him, "They're his favorite." She set the bag on his desk._

_Lady grabbed the car keys off his desk and turned to Dante, "You want something?" _

"_Yeah" he shifted little Daniel in his arms, "I'll take a strawberry sundae." He looked pointedly at Lady._

_Lady, in turn, rolled her eyes, "Come on, Patty."_

_It took a spit bubble that popped in his face, courtesy of Daniel, for it to finally click, "Now wait just a damn minute-"_

_Somewhere between Patty's cry of, "Dante, language!" he could hear Lady's annoyed, "We'll _be_ right back."_

_And then they were gone._

-Dante-

She said that three hours ago.

It was one thing to take my wallet and not come back with my strawberry sundae, it was another thing to take my wallet, not come back with my strawberry sundae, and leave me with a kid, who I found out within the first fifteen minutes of those three hours knew how to crawl. Not to bitch or anything, but do you know what the hell could happen in three hours?

No? Well, let me just tell you as a little heads up in advance: Do not _ever,_ under any circumstances, _ever_, give a kid sugar. Because what do they do? They get hyper. And then you have to chase them all over your death trap of a home for two and a half hours because they go running around- yeah, I found out he can freaking _run_- and in the end, or just in my case, they throw up on you.

So, I had no choicebutto peel my used-to-be clean shirt off. Problem was, when I turn back around, no Daniel. Where can an 11-month-old run off to in the span of five seconds, who the fuck knows? And now, here I was, half-naked may I add, playing a game of hide-and-seek that I didn't really feel like playing.

"_Here_ Danny, Danny, Danny." I called, "Come out, come out, wherever the hel-" had to mind the language-even if I don't find anything wrong with the word- "_wherever_ you are." When that didn't work, I had to resort to the next big thing. Bribing.

Patty did say they were his favorite snack, right?

You know the response that you get when you shake dog food and the dog just comes running, yeah, that's _not_ what I got. Instead the snotty little brat started crying, the only good that came out of it was that it helped me pinpoint where the brat was hiding. The kitchen. I don't know why that wasn't the first place I checked. Little kids that just puked up their guts on you tend to go there.

So, I get to the kitchen only to find the little squirt teetering _over the edge of the refrigerator_. It was pretty pointless to ask, but I did anyway, "Dude, how did you even get _up_ there?"

In response, the little snot cried louder and _reached _for me…or it could've been his snacks, I don't know, I was more concerned in the fact that he _reached_ out for whatever he was _reaching_ for. Because he _reached,_ damnit! Did this kid not understand the concept of danger? I'm guessing, no...And because he freaking _reached_, he lost what little balance his little body had.

And along came gravity.

Thanks to my- would've struck a pose if I wasn't trying to save _somebody_ from falling to their inevitable doom because they decided that they wanted to _reach out from on top of a refrigerator that they somehow climbed on top_ (and yeah, I'm still stuck on that)-awesome skills, I was, of course, able to catch him.

And, oh no, I don't get a thanks! Not that I was expecting it- a hug maybe- instead, I get a fistful of snot and tears over my unshirt (is that even a word?) wearing at the moment hot bod and a box half filled with disgusting banana craps snatched out of the hand that I wasn't holding said ungrateful brat in.

I mean _come on_, seriously…_banana_ biscuits? I can understand _strawberry_ but…banana? _Eww_…

The sound of the telephone ringing unfortunately cut me back to the cruel reality that was my life. And after some really unnecessary super cool moves that I did just for the hell of it- and the kid seemed to enjoy - to get to the said ringing phone, I answered it,

"Devil May Babysit."

There was a moment of silence before an answer, "_Uh,_ _Dante?_"

"Hey, Trish," I adjusted the kid to my other arm, "what's up?"

"_I was about to ask you the same thing._"

"Nothing much, really." I said, Brat started giggling.

"_Uh-huh, and who is that giggling in the backgroung- gasp- did Lady have the baby?_"

"You wish." That wasn't going to be happening for another six months. And, yes, I admit I was counting down-_sigh_-such a long way to go…A thought struck me after a moment, she did like kids right? "Trish, you should come over."

"Why_?_" She sounded suspicious.

"Because there's this little bra- _angel_ that could use a woman's attention right about now."

"_Yeah,_" She didn't sound too convinced, "_that sounds more like you than this so-called angel._"

I rolled my eyes, "Does it matter-look-are you even busy?" There was a moment of silence. "Trish?"

"_What's that, Vergil?_" she suddenly shouted, "_there's a leak in the attic and it needs fixing?_..._Well, that's just inconvenient because Dante just asked me if I was busy when I wasn't, but since I am_ now _I guess I can't help him out!_"

I scoffed, I had to, they didn't even have an attic, and if they _did_ somehow get a leak, Vergil wouldn't even inform her of it, he would just fix it himself _if_ he let it get that far. "If you're gonna lie, at least be a little creative."

"…" Silence.

_Did she hang up?_ "Hello?"

More silence and then, "_KKKKRRRRSHHH!_ _Sorry Dante, we're going under-KKKKRRRRSSSHHHH- a tunnel-KKKRRRSSHHHHH-can't talk right now-_"

"Tri-"

"_KKKRRRRSSSSSHHHH-Bye!" _and then she hung up.

With a sigh, I set the phone down and walked to the couch to watch some TV. Instead, I was engaged in a rather uncomfortable staring contest with Brat. "What?"

In response, he looked up at me with his big green eyes and said, "Bah."

I turned my attention back to the not-so-horrific horror movie they were showing on television. Maybe if I ignored him, he would go to sleep.

Suddenly, my line of sight was filled with the almost one year old, smiling innocently. _Too_ innocently. And he was just _staring_.

"What?" I asked. The kid just blinked, then stared some more. "You're really weird, you know that?" I moved him to the opposite end of my cushy red couch and sat back to watch some more zombie turkeys get their heads blown off on the TV screen.

I felt the couch shift, and once again, my view was of nothing but Daniel, now standing on my lap. And he was _still staring_. He smiled, seeming to come up with a conclusion to something, "You're daddy."

My eyes widened in shock, and then narrowed, _Since when did this kid talk? And where did that come from?_ "I'm not your dad, Kid."

"But," he looked away and then back up, clearly confused, "You're Daddy."

"I'm," I pointed to myself, "Dante. You," I pointed to him "Danny."

He pointed to me, "You," He pointed to himself, "My Daddy."

Was this little roach getting smart with me?

"_No_ I'm not."

"Uh-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Nuh-_uh_!"

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, _uh-huh_!"

I came to the conclusion that he was doing this on purpose just to annoy the hell (and that's a lot of hell, may I add) out of me. "I am _not_ your _DADDY_!"

His lip quivered before he opened his mouth and took a deep breath. I grabbed him up before he had a chance to cry, "Okay, alright, you win this one." I rubbed his back in an attempt to sooth him, "Sheesh, you're so stubborn. Worst than Lady…" His eyelids were fluttering closed I noticed. He must've been tired, as hyper as he was earlier he could use a nap. Before I knew it, he was out like a light.

I should have known something was up when I found myself in the midst of a shopping mall holding a machine gun and shooting at gobbling, mutated, flesh craving turkeys. It took me but a moment to realize that I had fallen asleep, and then another moment to wonder what woke me up. A quick flash of light behind my eyelids gave me my answer. I groaned, hoping it wasn't what I thought it was.

"Uh-oh," a shrilly voice began, "I think I woke him up."

A chuckle, "You should take another before he comes to."

I _came to_ before she could take another whatever of whatever she wanted to take a whatever of, which was the wrong thing to do because the flash of what I'm guessing now was a camera got into my just opening eyes. Not a good thing when you just wake up from a nap.

"_Wakey, wakey,_ _sleepy head_!" Who I'm guessing was Patty, giggled.

I flinched, "Listen little babe, your voice isn't exactly the nicest thing to hear when you're just waking u-GAH!"

"That's what you get!" another flash, "Now give me back my cousin."All too gladly, I complied in giving the little runt back to his former, annoying caretaker.

Looking around myself, I found that three pairs of eyes: green, blue, and teal and russet, were staring back at me.

I glared at teal and russet, "Where've you been?"

Teal and russet lifted a brow in amusement and chuckled, "Working," she waved me off before I could ask, "I'll tell you later. But it looks like you two had yourselves a good time."

I laughed without humor, "Yeah, it was just _grand_."

"I'm loving the sarcasm," she rolled her eyes, "Stop acting so glum, your sundae's in the fridge, and look, I bought you something else." She pointed to my desk where my _something else _was.

I couldn't believe I didn't smell it earlier, maybe I was too caught up in the fact that Lady was wearing a dress…I did a double take. Leaning against the desk with her arms crossed above the just barely noticeable bump on her lower abdomen, was Lady in a knee-length pink dress. _What the hell?_ Lady was wearing a dress? And it was _pink_? _And_ knee-length? How had I not noticed that? I blame the pizza withdrawal.

"Where'd you get the dress?"

She hefted little Daniel in her arms, _When did he get there?_ "Same place I got the camera," she said, referring to Patty, "And those," she waved a hand to regard the bags waiting at the bottom of the staircase. Waiting for me to carry them up, I'm guessing.

"From your job?"

"From my job." She nodded.

"So you didn't need my…"

She shook her full head of ebony hair, "Nope." I sighed out a breath in relief, that was one less debt I had to pay.

Daniel smiled up and pat her cheek to get her attention, "_Pretty._" He cooed. I scoffed, _What a dork._

Lady smiled back, a smile I've never seen before, "Thank you, _Danny_." She kissed his forehead leaving a shiny pink imprint (lip gloss too? What the hell was wrong with me?) and turned a glare at me, "You could learn a lot from him, you know."

I rolled my eyes and got up, heading over to my, hopefully still hot, pizza. "You do look nice, though."

"Uh-huh. Sure."

Not liking her tone of voice, I switched my destination to where she was standing. I leaned over her, effectively invading her personal space. "Really," I said, pressing a kiss to her forehead and efficiently ignoring Daniel's ineffective death glare, "You look _beautiful_, Lady." _You always do_.

I added that last part to myself; no way in _hell_ was I about to sprout some mushy crap to _anybody_. It was already bad enough that I said what I already said which was _just_ as mushy, just not _as_ mushy as it would have been if I said what I said to myself...

Are you confused? Yes? Good, then my job here is done.

Lady raised a brow in response, but there was no mistaking that blush on her cheeks. I inwardly chuckled, a blushing Lady? Now _that_ was just _too_ cute.

_Click, flash._

"_Oww_." Lady blinked hard, "My _eyes_."

I sighed, _Such a_ _mood killer_, "Was that really necessary, Patty?"

Patty shook her head like it was the dumbest question I had ever asked her. "Of _course_ it was, _Dante_. I have to capture every sweet moment between you two for my very special photo album." She grinned up at me, "It'll be my very first present for Patryce."

I wasn't in the mood to know who this, Patrice, or whatever person was, so instead, I ignored her comment, as I would usually ignore most things that came from Patty's mouth, and headed over to my precious pizza.

Rolling her eyes at the whole ordeal, Lady, followed by Patty, headed upstairs to do whatever it was girls did. "Bring those to my room when you come upstairs." She said referring to the bags, then she and her posse disappeared into the darkness of the hallway.

Knowing I was right about the bags, I decided to congratulate myself with a nice hot slice of-

_Rrriiinnnggg…. _

_The world had better be in danger_. Some force was against me, that was why I could never just get a break and eat in peace. With a growl, I picked the stupid phone up, "Devil May Cry, Dante here." _Who else would it be?_

"_Hey, it's Trish._"

My annoyance faded into even more annoyance…if that was possible, "_Oh_, well if it isn't Ms. I'm-going-under-bridge-so-I-can't-help-you-out?"

I could practically hear her roll her eyes, "_It was a _tunnel_, for your information-and would you forget about that, this is serious. The world's in danger._"

_Whoops._

Trish explained all the details about some suspicious demonic Order or whatever, worshipping Sparda and what not, basically they were up to something. I'm guessing, trying to rise the underworld blah blah blah, take over the world etc etc, and it was up to me-_once again_- to save the world. This time Trish was going to be accompanying me.

It would most likely be me doing all the work anyway.

Since Trish and I would be going on this journey to save the world from it's inevitable doom, only one person would be left to take care Lady. I decided to tell her first thing in the morning, she would most likely agree to what I had in mind anyway.

I hope.

_The next day_

"No."

"No? What do you mean 'No?'"

"I mean 'No.' _as in_ 'No way in hell.'"

I sighed, "And why the hell not?"

"_Because,_" She crossed her arms, "He doesn't _like_ me! I'm not even sure he likes _Trish_."

"Hey!"

Lady raised her arms in mock defense, "I just call it how I see it."

Trish frowned, "I don't know how you can see that. My Vergie-Fluffkins _loves_ me." She leaned over and pinched said Vergie-Fluffkin's cheek.

"_Vergie-Fluffkins_?" I snorted and crossed my arms, "Where did that even come from?"

Trish was more than ready to explain the origin of the name, before Vergie-Fluff- I mean Vergil…no, fuck it- _Vergie-Fluffkins_ growled out an annoyed, "_Trish_." With that Trish pouted and went to sulk somewhere behind my desk.

Lady slammed her hands on the desk, once again gaining my attention, "I don't understand why you can't just take Vergil and leave Trish with me," she put one hand on her hip and cocked her head to the side, "Why is she going anyway?"

"I don't know," I had to admit, that _was_ a good question, "why don't you ask her? Trish!"

There was no response.

"Yamato's gone." Vergil's voice was filled with disbelief.

It took a full minute for that to sink in. "You got_ jacked_?" That on top of Vergie-Fluffkins had me in hysteria. It wasn't everyday Vergil got robbed, so when it did happen (which was practically _never_) you had to savor the moment-like his facial expression for instance-_nice_. _Definitely_ a Kodak moment. For once I wished Patty was here, that camera of hers would be put to good use. Just zoom in and _clic-_

"I wouldn't be laughing so hard, Dante." Lady smirked and nodded at something behind me. "You did too."

That shut me up_ real_ quick, "What?" I looked over my shoulder to see what she was talking about.

In pink lipstick, in the spot where Sparda was _supposed_ to be, were the words '_See you there.'_

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, why did Trish have to be so _difficult_?

….

Trish, Dante vowed, was going to get hers when he caught up to her...whenever and wherever that may be. What was a Fortuna anyway? A town, a country…a capital of a country, he didn't know. The least she could've done was leave a map. Instead she left that up to Lady, who wasn't in the best of moods at the time. He wouldn't be surprised if what she had drawn led him off a cliff or worse, a deserted island only inhabited by vegetables, excluding tomatoes (unless tomatoes are still being considered a fruit). He shivered at the thought.

Vergil was…_somewhere, _probably sulking about getting his precious sword taken from him. Dante wouldn't put it past him. He just got finished hoisting Ebony and Ivory when Lady came out (looking very suspicious) of the kitchen.

"You're leaving?" She asked as she sat down on the desk in front of him.

Was it just him or did he sense a little wistfulness in that sentence, he smirked, "_Aww,_ come on babe," he cooed, "don't tell me you miss me already, I haven't even left yet."

He watched Lady as she rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Don't flatter yourself."

"You didn't say I was wrong," He placed his arms on his desk, right by her sides.

Her arms encircled his waist and she pulled him close, "I know what I said." He leaned in further until his lips brushed against hers in a soft chaste kiss.

"You know," she leaned away, licking her lips, "I've noticed you've been kissing me _a lot_ lately."

He smirked, "Sorry babe, just can't seem to help myself."

She chuckled and pulled him even closer, if that was possible, "Don't make it a habit."

He responded with a, "Won't make any promises." and closed the distance between them, his hands fisting in her hair while his tongue explored every inch of her mouth that she would allow him to. He couldn't help but notice she tasted faintly of strawberries and cream. But he didn't mind that she ate his sundae _again_ because it tasted _so much _better in her mouth, he could've been there all day.

But then she groaned and pulled away, "You should go." She rubbed at the stubble on his cheeks and chin. He noticed she didn't sound like she wanted him to, which made him smirk some more.

"Yeah," _But first_, he had one more person to say good-bye to, he saw how her eyebrows creased as he crouched down, hip level. And he felt her relax when he wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled the bump that was his soon to be child. "I'll be back before you know it, so don't go missing me too much, kid." He didn't get much of a response but Dante smiled none-the-less.

With that, he stood up and strut out the door with a small wave over his shoulder, "Don't wait up for me."

**A/N: **I am super, ka-duper, from-the-bottom-of-my-black-hole-of-a-heart, sorry x11, because that's how many months it took for me to update. My (my dad's) old computer/laptop crashed (it took my MP3 player with it (R.I.P. Pinkie)) and I wasn't able to type as much as I needed or do corrections and stuff like that. But since I now have a new computer (it's my dads) I'm now able to type to my hearts content. Hurray, for everybody! Yeah, so this chappie's short, well, you guys deserved a longer chap in my opinion, but I'll update my next one soon to make up for it.

Haha, yeah, I sorta took advantage that this is my story and I could do whatever I wanted and not have a care in the world. Sorry if it bothers anyone that I messed with the DMC4 plot. And for all the Vergil fans reading my story, you'll be seeing more of him in the next chapter. Well, leave a review about what you think or about the chapter in general. Oh, and if you haven't checked it out already I have a new (not so much anymore) story, more like a collection of drabbles, request something if you want.

And thanx to my reviewers!

**Ao-Seichi**: I wasn't planning on going through the whole pregnancy, but for you I will. **MaRAGhOUL**: I'm glad you liked it. **Anonymous**: Yeah, I didn't plan it but that's how I made it. **Devil Rebel**: Thanx! I WILL! **Luna Dagger**: Thanx for the fave! I'll try to keep you L'inYAO! **RikkuDevil**: Thank u, thank u, thank _u_! **And** **to my PM**: When Dante read the letter, he thought she was trying to call him fat (which, we all know, will always be impossible), that's why he asked her if that was her way of telling him to cut down on the pizza. Lol! Well, 'til, next time, See Ya!


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N:** I know it's late and I wanted to post this yesterday but my internet was being a bit of a b#$*&! But yeah, have fun unwrapping/reading my belated Christmas present to you all! Merry (belated) Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa and have a wonderful New Year! Thanx to everyone who added me to your favorites alerts and reviewing, it really does make me happy. Well, yeah, that's all! Review plz!

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"_You make him happy."_

_To say she was just a little more than shocked to this random was an understatement. After all, that last thing she expected while she sat cooped up on a table/seat thingy waiting for the doc to come was talk about her making somebody happy. Especially if it was coming from someone who didn't look happy most of the time. So, she responded with the only word she could._

"_What?" She asked._

_Vergil, seemingly not the least bit happy about that (no surprise there) closed the book (more like a volume) he had been reading for the last few hours now, placing it in the vacant seat the right of him, and turned his full attention to Lady, much to her chagrin._

"_Dante." He said, as if was the most obvious thing in the world, "You make him happy." _

_The woman in question blinked, still unsure of where this had to be coming from. "Oh." She responded, "Well, that's good."_

_The blue-clad man continued to stare, obviously waiting for more. But really, what he did he expect her to say? Sighing in disdain of her lack of more words, he crossed his ankle over his right knee, leaning his head on the knuckles of his hand regarding her carefully. _

_She faintly wondered how he could look oh-so comfortable in an oh-so uncomfortable plastic chair. Tiring of consistent stare, she turned her sight forward to the wall decorated with some flower portrait as a pitiful attempt to add color to the small white washed room. She swallowed, hoping he wouldn't notice. _

_Where the hell was this doctor?_

"_My little brother holds an abnormal amount of affection for you, as I'm sure you've noticed." She made a face at the word _abnormal_ but nodded so he would continue, "I want to be sure his feelings are not one-sided."_

In translation_, she thought to herself, _he's asking me if I care about his brother in the same way he cares about me. _ She held in the urge to laugh out loud because really, he was actually giving her The Big Brother Talk. _

_So Lady, not knowing what was to come, put on the bravest face she could muster and took a deep breath to prepare herself for the most awkward conversation she would most likely ever have in her entire life._

_Once more, where was this woman at?_

_Slowly, ever so slowly, as if to hold off what was getting ready to take place, she turned to meet his gaze head-on, she knew he would expect nothing less than full eye contact when she gave her answer. "No." she started, making sure to keep her eyes locked with his all the while, "They're not one-sided." _

_And it was the truth, she realized, as hard as it was to believe. Sure he was an attractive guy, and generous on occasion, but he was still an idiot and so he had his faults (lazy, cocky, rash, untidy, etc, etc...) and therefore sometimes intolerable. And maybe that's what Vergil wanted to make sure, as he sat there scrutinizing her words, that she wouldn't just up and leave when his little brother got too unbearable to live with. _

_She mentally scoffed to herself at that thought. She had tried it before, some years ago, and as loathe as she was to admit it, a life without Dante was a hard life to endure. Which was why she was where she was at the moment. Not that she was complaining (much, anyway)._

_After what seemed like hours instead of a measly few seconds, he gave a brief upward twitch of the mouth-as close to a smile she was going to get-and nodded, clearly satisfied with her response. It still came as a surprise when she saw a bit of relief flash across his face before it was back to its trademark unemotional…_

_Which was weird because she assumed that most people knew the status of their some-what complicated relationship. But still, she was glad that the air in the not-so-cramped-anymore room was less tense than it had been when she and Vergil walked in some while ago. _

_So it didn't come as much of a surprise when the door clicked open and the woman they'd been waiting on finally graced them with her presence. _

_Dr. Betham. A nice middle aged doctor who Lady was fortunate enough to get as her own. "Hello, Ms. Ann." She started cheerfully, "How are you to-oh!" she paused when she realized it wasn't just them two in the room."I'm sorry I didn't see you!" she laughed lightheartedly as she sent a greeting Vergil's way. She then turned back to her patient and curiously asked, "Is this the father?"_

_Lady, for her part, didn't react negatively. For some reason, she could imagine Vergil being a good father if he ever decided to have children, if his protective nature towards his younger sibling was any indication. _

_She shook her ebony covered head as her answer. Turning to the kind obstetrician and said in a tone she usually didn't use when speaking about the male sitting beside her, "Dr. Betham," she addressed the blue clad man sitting silently to the right of her making sure he heard her every word, "Meet Uncle V." _

~Lady~

Whatever change happened that day it was for the better. Vergil and I, for the most part, actually speak to each other now unlike we did some three weeks ago. And to think that all it took was a brief heart-to-heart in an isolated hospital room.

It still didn't stop me from wanting to kick Dante's ass though. After all, I haven't heard a word from him nor Trish since they left. And speaking of Trish, she was in for a world of tongue-lashings from Vergil for taking his precious sword. But I could understand where he was coming from. If anyone were to take Kalina Ann…

Yeah. I would _so_ kick ass.

But that's not the problem here. The problem is that I can't seem to get to sleep tonight-just like the previous nights starting on the night Dante took his inevitable leave and tonight's no better. If anything it's worse.

It's September and for some reason it's hot when it should not be hot and I'm getting heat flashes even though I'm not under any of Dante's sheets.

Oh, yeah, I started sleeping in his room.

It felt like the right thing to do, since this kid is hyper-aware that her father is nowhere in sight, she's been giving me nothing but hell. I know damn well I shouldn't still have morning sickness, but I do. And sometimes I wake up for no reason at all, but I know it has something to do with her but sometimes it's Vergil messing around downstairs doing something or the other. Not sure what, I'm always too lazy to go check for myself. But still, I can already tell she's going to be a troublemaker.

Just like her dad.

I shake my head and laugh, because seriously, a female Dante is not something anyone wants to see. It _would_ be interesting to see though, in the near future. For now, in the present, I need to get myself to fall asleep and the only thing that has been helping me- believe it or not-is his scent. Unluckily for me that's running out. But maybe I'll get lucky enough if I just try…

I'm awake before I even know I dozed off, and I know I'm only awake because something startled me, not sure what though…

Until the bed dips some more.

I'm not alarmed, per say, I can already guess who it is, and if it was some type of danger I unfortunately would be too groggy and-dare I say it-exhausted to do anything but perhaps shout for help. Still I can't help but try anyway,

"Dante?" I can tell by how everything seems to still that I hit the mark. And then I feel arms come around me and a head bury onto the same pillow-his pillow-that I'm occupying.

And then a voice-his voice-shushes me and tells me to "Go back to sleep." If this was any other time I would damn sure rather put up a fight with him telling me what to do, but this isn't any other time, it's now, and so I nod and comply without argument, _pfft_, not like I wasn't going to go back to sleep anyway.

When I wake for the second time that day, I realize I feel more refreshed than I had for a while now. I also realize that my front is slightly pushed against someone else's front, which I find strange because I can briefly recall falling asleep back-to-front. I guess I move more than I thought I did in my sleep, either that or he somehow got me to turn around. I doubt it though.

For some reason though, I don't find a problem with this. I instead find a problem with getting out of bed. His arms are still snuggled around me but the bathroom is calling.

I didn't want to wake him up; after all he looked positively adorable when he slept…I never noticed it before actually. And I could feel myself smile at the thought. One really wouldn't associate the adjective adorable to describe a person like Dante.

But no matter how adorable he looked, I still had to go. And like they say: when you gotta go, you gotta go.

_I_ at least _tried_ to be subtle with the movements but it seemed like Dante was on alert and woke as soon as I moved. Which sucked…a lot. Things could only take a turn for the worst right? And when he gave a tired but still too cute goofy smile that was exactly what I thought.

"Morning." He said, voice hoarse from the lack of use, but before I could say a thing or two, the door to the room practically slammed open, startling me and making Dante groan out a curse at the abuse of his bedroom door. Yep, things could only get worse.

Vergil, footsteps so soundless I had to actually see him in order for me to know that he was there, was close at her heels, and I could tell that whatever argument they were spewing was going to drag one of us, Dante or I, into it. That was not something I did not want to be apart of, so I took that as my cue to leave.

Dante had gotten up to attend to the current dispute between the two, leaving me, thankfully, to do my own thing. I made sure to get up carefully, because I was sore in the mornings, and did my daily stretch, which happened to be a mistake since that action happened to seize one of the three occupant's attention.

Anything and everything the blond she-devil had planned on saying came to a halt when she got a glance at me, "_Wow_ Lady," she said obviously amazed at something or the other, "_You're huge._"

It took me about a moment or two to realize she wasn't talking about the swollenness of my abdomen because yeah, that did grow just a bit too, but she was focusing on something else…something_s _higher up…

She was talking about my breasts of course, she was Trish and so she would address something to the extent. And with that awareness I couldn't help but check them out myself, it's not like I noticed anyway.

They _did_ seem a bit larger if I did say so myself, but they _were_ also a bit tender, so that was the downfall for that…

Noticing it was indeed too quiet I took a look up-only to find all three of the perverts oogling me! "You perverts!" I started, snapping them out of whatever trance they had been in previously, "This ain't a free show!" With that said, I turned and started for the bathroom…

…And I could hear _his_ non too light footsteps following after mine and I couldn't help but groan in disdain. "Would you quit following me?"

"Not until you give me my good morning kiss."

"_NO!_"

_Later _

"Alright, spill it," I demanded when I was finally able to get me and my blond haired companion some privacy, "What the hell happened on that job, Trish?"

Trish, who had been previously picking nonexistent filth from her freakishly long nails when I pulled her in here-here meaning my room of course-glanced up at me with a too innocent expression before asking, "Why, whatever do you mean?"

_Pfft_, as if I would fall for that.

With a roll of my eyes, I continued, "You know as well as I do that Dante isn't acting like himself. What the _hell_ happened?"

She looked like she wouldn't respond for a while, looked as if she would be doing some forbidden thing by telling me just what went on while they were gone, but finally she decided she didn't give a damn.

Wasn't surprising in the least. With a sigh, she began her tale,

"There was a girl…"

I looked on, obviously waiting for more.

"…and there was this boy."

"_Trish!_"

"Okay, okay." She straightened out to face me, actually getting serious this time. _About time_ "Nero. It's the boy's name. Kind of reminds me of Dante. White hair, the blue eyes… He had this _crazy_ devil arm-"

"Devil arm?" I asked, cutting off her reminisce.

"Yeah. It was strange." She waved it off, deciding to leave that story for another time, "But this kid…he went all out for this one girl, Kyrie, I think her name is. Fought The Order, fought her brother-not that I was there, I just heard about it-but…I don't know, it was just _insane_ how much he went through for this _one girl_."

I remained silent at that, knowing she had more she wanted to say on the subject. "And then she got taken away from him and he just went _ballistic_-I'm talking bat right out of hell wild trying to get her back. Somehow he got a hand on Yamato," She flinched, recalling the event,

"Dante ran into him a few times. Tried to get the sword back, but he was too damn stubborn, brat put up a good fight too." She glanced up at me for that part, "Dante's words, not mine." I nodded in understanding, it sounded like something he would say.

"And, yeah, I don't know," her hands slapped onto her black leather-clad thighs in exasperation, "I guess Dante just imagined himself in the same position-if you were ever to be taken away from him, I mean." She scoffed and added to herself, "If anyone would be dumb enough to try and do _that_."

Finally, after a moment of silence, I spoke. "I'd like to meet this kid."

"Lady…" She gave off a soft un-Trishlike smile my words.

But I wasn't done yet. "So I can kick his ass."

Trish for her part wasn't expecting that when she exclaimed a shocked, "Lady!"

"What?" Because really, what did she expect? "Isn't it his fault Dante's all lovey-dovey, mushy-mushy, wanting to cuddle every freaking second now?"

She looked deadpanned as she responded. "Isn't that what you want?"

"W-what?" I cursed myself when I felt my cheeks starting to burn at the brashness of her question even though it wasn't true…Well…not for _every_ second, anyway…"The hell gave you that idea?"

She scoffed at my reaction like I should've known better than to question her, "It's common knowledge that expectant women-like yourself-enjoy more physical contact from their mates on a regular basis than it is for non-pregnant women."

"Where are you getting all this stuff?" _And wait, m-mate? The fu-_

"Magazines, internet, television, _etc_, _etc_…" She stated, responding to my previous question, "But really, you _have_ to admit that it _does_ make a hell of a lot of sense." And as much as wanted to, I couldn't disagree with her because, well, it _sorta_ did.

I decided that the conversation had to stop right then. If _me_ agreeing with Trish-_Trish_ of all people wasn't a sign that something was wrong, then this sudden dizzy spell/headache/nausea feeling (and was it cold in here?) sure was.

So I stepped out of our former comfort zone in an effort to get something cold to drink when lo-and-_fucking_-behold, I run into (literally) the subject of our tête-à-tête. And I could tell from the way his hands were gripping my arms-there to steady me when we crashed-non too tightly, that he had no plan on letting me go.

And to think that all I wanted was a drink. A _great_ day this was turning out to be, (note the freaking sarcasm).

I found it weird that he was staring at me so intently, his icy baby-blues piercing through mine, as they did earlier, "Lady," and I was waiting for him to spurt some ridiculous shit like he'd been doing all day, just bothering me for the hell of it because he knew he could, so it came as a surprise when he truly appeared to look so serious. "You know I love you, right?"

_The fuck…_I remember my eyes widening to a size I wasn't even aware that they could extend. I then remember my face scrunching up in what could only be assumed as confusion because _where the hell did that come from?_ And I can faintly recall myself sputtering a barely coherent "Wha..." if that counted for anything, but the rest…is black…

...

When she woke, she woke with a headache and a groan. And because her arm was feeling a little anesthetized and her left side _very_ uncomfortable she decided it was time to turn herself over to a new position in what she could only assume a bed-most likely not her bed-so she could continue in her slumber.

What she wasn't expecting was for someone to be on the other side.

"Morning."

She resisted the strong urge to scream but that didn't mean she didn't freeze up, staring in the doe-caught-in-headlights fashion people were so fond of using theses days.

"Since when do _you_ faint?" when it was obvious he wasn't going to get an answer out of her, he continued, "You know, Trish was about to send me to hell and back and to hell again because she thought that _I_ did something to you. And then Verge," he shook his head to rid himself of a bad memory, "He was going to _slaughter_ me."

When she was sure her voice was back to its normal octave and her heart was no longer located in the base of her throat, she _tsked_ in annoyance and glared heatedly at him before explaining, "It was just the heat-"

"The heat of my _love?_"

"Shut up!" She then did an un-Ladylike thing and hid her face in the comfort of his pillow, making the white haired hunter chuckle whole heartedly in the process, which only seemed to cause her to bury herself more.

Lady felt him begin to toy with the digits of her left hand after a while,

"Hey." The softness of his voice (she was still getting used to that) was what caught the woman's attention and she let out a grunt to let him know she was listening.

When he was positive she was indeed listening to him, he asked in a tone she was new to hearing, "Why'd you take it off?"

And she immediately knew what he was talking about for he had stopped on a specific finger located on her left hand. In her curiosity, she revealed a russet eye out of its concealment only to find that he wasn't looking at her but rather the focus of the question and she couldn't help but become aware of her heart was beating a little faster. She responded with the only answer she had, "It was turning my finger green." the truth.

The man let out a light chuckle, but continued his quiet examination on said finger and she resisted the urge to curl her hand up and hide it away from him. After what seemed like forever but wasn't really, he decided that he had enough exploration for that moment but still continued to hold her digit carefully.

"So, if it was real, you would keep it on?"

_What? _The shock of his question had knocked the breath from her and she found it so hard to get it back. And the way that he was staring at her…

"Are you trying to ask me something?" The way his eyes swept up to meet her own at the inquiry had her trying for breath again. He looked serious-determined really-determined for what she _did not_ know nor did she want to know because it was too much to take in and she was pregnant and hormonal and she was holding her breath because he wasn't answering her and if he didn't stop staring at her like that _right now_ she was sure to die and take their baby with her so he should _stop_ so she could _breathe_ again-_live_ again-

And just when she actually thought that she was going to die-like _literally_-he blinked, taking his determination and seriousness with it and replacing it with a wolfish grin one could only associate with Dante.

With a casualness that could only come with being the youngest of the Sparda twins, he answered with a, "Nope." And then he laughed when she gave an exasperated roll of her russet-teal eyes. "Come on, babe," he started in his usual oh-so laid-back manner, _The bastard_, "Let's get you something to eat."

And with that he proceeded to drag her out of their bed and down to the kitchen where she would undoubtedly consume an unhealthy amount of pizza just because that was what she was craving and she because she could get away with it.

But first, she had something to say to him.

With a slight tug of her wrist, she pulled him to a stop, gaining his attention. But before he could say (complain) about the action, she pressed up on the tips of her feet using her new post (his neck) for balance and pushed their lips together.

It was a soft press of the lips that lasted for longer than she planned, but it felt like much more with how tender he responded to the contact. With much reluctance that she refused to show on her part, Lady pulled away, looking him in the eyes when he finally opened them she said almost shyly, "You know I love _you_, right?"

Dante gazed at her softly for a moment as if he wanted to say something but decided against it, and before she knew it, his eyes turned their playful blue. "Is this the part where I faint?" he asked.

With a fierce snarl, Lady clipped him on the back of his head in her annoyance making sure he gave a shout of pain before stuttering out an embarrassed "Shut up!"


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: ***peeks around corner* _Heys guys..._Yeah, so, I know I've been AWOL all last year and if you've read my other fanfic then you know I've been nusy since last June. Well, that's over now so you don't have to worry about it 'cause I'm back now! Anyway, this chapter's kinda long but I hope you like it all the same. Enjoy!

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"_You know, this red one reminds me of the bike Dante described to me this one time." Trish continued on, oblivious to the damage she was causing. "Said he destroyed it on one of his bigger adventures."_

_Beside the blonde, sitting with her feet propped up on the coffee table nearby, Lady flipped through a few of the pages of the magazine she was currently occupied with. "An adventure, huh?" She questioned. "This one have a name?"_

"_As a matter of fact, it does." She ignored the cut-throat signs sent her way by Dante and went on, "It was something like, um, Timmy…Timmy…." She snapped her fingers trying to remember, she knew it had something to do with a tower._

"_Temen-ni-Gru?" Vergil supplied._

"_That's the one." Trish confirmed with one loud final snap._

_For the record, Dante couldn't really find it in his heart to get mad at Trish. If anything, it was he who was the one to blame. Back then, when it was just the two of them occupying the Devil Never Cry agency, there were more than a few occasions where he would find himself drunk off his ass and retelling memories of Lady and his brother. It was just unfortunate that his expedition at the resurrected holy tower happened to be one of them._

_Also unfortunate was the fact that Trish couldn't seem to keep her mouth shut._

_The feel of something smacking hard against his forehead brought him out of his thoughts. Rubbing at the abused part of his head, he looked up only to find dual-colored eyes glaring back at him. Standing with one hand planted on one cotton-clad hip, the other planted firmly on the desk his feet were currently resting on, stood Lady. Weird, he couldn't remember her getting up._

"_So that shit was you." If her tone didn't sound so accusing, he would have assumed she meant it as a question. But she had a right to be upset, you would be too if all you found left over from your precious motorcycle were the handle bars._

"_Uh…" Dante glanced off to the side, catching sight of both his brother and the demoness that got him into this mess wearing identical expressions amusement as they awaited the next words to come out of his mouth. Still absently rubbing at his forehead as to give his hand something to do, he stared at a spot over her shoulder as he continued. "If I say _no_…" This time when she decided to throw a rouge magazine at his face he was ready to catch it. "Would you calm down? I don't know what you're all mad for, you're not supposed to be riding anyway."_

"_That's not the point!" she fumed, "You murdered my ride and you didn't even have the decency to tell me! Mind you, this was years ago, Dante." She suddenly went quite, as if contemplating something. When she looked back at him, eyes glinting mischievously, he felt his own widen in horror. "I hope you know what this means." she said._

"_Babe, no," he protested, his feet coming off the desk so he could stand. "That's not fair! I was almost out of debt with you!" The look she gave him let him know she wasn't the least bit remorseful. The bitch._

"_Wait, so let me get this straight," Trish started from where she sat, chin resting on the arm that lay across the back of the couch, "You're _still_ paying her?" she chuckled, "I find that kind of sad."_

_The half-devil snarled, his hand twitching toward Ivory. "I don't know what the hell you're laughing at, this is all your fault. If you hadn't opened your big mouth-"_

"_Oh, come now, don't try to pin this one on me. It was bound to get out sometime-"_

"_No, it wasn't! I was gonna take that to my _grave-_Hey, would you quit throwin' shit?" He lifted a gloved hand to catch the balled up piece of paper Lady hurled his way before it had the chance to bounce harmlessly off of his chest. Luckily for him, the black-haired female refrained from hurling anything else with the intention to harm in the hunter's direction, but only because there was nothing else around to toss. From the look on her face, he could guess she just about ready to hop over the only obstacle separating them to start landing physical attacks._

_Dante knew, even in her current condition, she could still manage it._

"_Take that your grave?" If it was possible, her eyes narrowed more than they were previously, "How can you say stuff like that with a straight face? You destroyed my precious Cherry Red-Do you not have a conscience?"_

_Before Dante could give off a smart remark about how unoriginal sounding the name she gave her long deceased motorcycle-considering the fact that the bike was a cherry red color- the she-demon cut in as she found another opening in which she would be able to wreak more havoc. Obviously she was not satisfied with the lack of bloodshed on his person._

"'_Cherry Red'? Is that what you said her name was?" the blonde asked, examining her nails with a look of disinterest. Glancing up to give Dante a look he didn't much at all like, she turned to the other female in the room, giving her a piteous sigh when the shorter woman nodded almost sadly. "Of what Dante here told me about his epic trip on the side of the tower, she sounded like a nice ride." She sighed again, resting her chin back in the crook of her arm, golden locks of hair spilling over her shoulder. "Too bad I will never have the chance to ride her. Oh well. May she rest in pieces."_

"_Trish!" This time grabbing the pistol in hand for real, he aimed it in the direction of the un-intimidated looking blonde where she had Ombra lazily resting against the back of the couch, ready to deflect any bullets that would come her way if he gave into the urge to shoot. _

_And he really would shoot at her, Trish came to realize as they bantered back and forth for a while. There was something bothering him, she knew. Since the two of them got back from Fortuna just days before, he seemed to get aggravated more easily than what was normal for him and he always kept one eye on Lady whenever she was in distance. Contrary to how dim-witted she might usually act, she wasn't stupid. She knew exactly what was eating at him._

_It was the same thing that had her starting arguments that got her to waste bullets that would've been used for more useful things on the devil hunter in order to get his mind off things…The exact same thing that had Vergil somewhat on edge._

"_Woman,"_

_Speaking of Vergil…_

"_Are you well?"_

_To anyone that didn't know Vergil as well as the other three occupants of the room, his voice would have probably come off as cold and uncaring. Fortunately for them, they did indeed know the eldest son of Sparda-as much as he may vehemently disagree to admitting- and so they did hear the thin undertone of what most would have called 'worry', but he would describe as dealing with a minor inconvenience, coloring his words. So when the both of them turned to the female in question, they were surprised to find her figure slightly hunched over, one hand clutching the edge of his wooden desk, the other shakily resting against her temple, a temple that he was close enough to notice, was slick with beads of sweat._

She looks sick, _he could hear himself think as he studied the sickly pale pallor of her skin. And here he didn't think her natural porcelain skin tone couldn't get any lighter, right now she was about two shades away from pushing white. Dante could feel a sick feeling pulling at his own gut. How was it that he was too busy arguing with Trish that he hadn't noticed how weak the usually tough woman looked as she stood not even two feet away from him? She looked about ready to pass out. Again._

"_Babe," Letting Ivory drop onto the tabletop, he rounded the desk to stand before the shorter woman, effectively blocking the sight of her in her vulnerable moment from the two behind him. He brought a hand up to brush some of her damp bangs aside, coming in contact with the coolness of the cold sweat staining her skin. "Lady? Hey." He pat her cheek a couple times when that didn't seem to get her attention._

_Lady blinked, snapping out of whatever trance she might have been in to focus glassy eyes on him. "What?" she asked, her brow furrowing in question._

"_Verge asked you something." Dante found himself mirroring her expression, his mouth quirking down in worry when her gaze was beginning to look unfocused. "You alright?"_

"_I'm fine," she brushed his hand away from her face and straightened out of her previous slouched position. "You worry too much."_

_She obviously was not fine, he knew. The way she was always pushing her body's boundaries now-a-days wasn't making her any better. He also knew that the way he acquiesced to whatever she wanted to do that would guarantee her fatigue was making her worse. Well, he decided, he wasn't going to let that happen anymore. Dante wasn't about to brush this one off when he knew for a fact that she was struggling just to keep her eyes open._

"_Go rest." He commanded, garnering a raised eyebrow from her. "No," he continued when he saw her open her mouth to protest, "You're practically dead on your feet. Now go. I'm not gonna tell you again." He tugged her in the general direction of the stairs, noting she was too flabbergasted to put up much of a fight. It was usually her telling him what to do after all, so this actually came as a surprise._

"_Wait!" finally getting her bearings, she tugged on the arm he was tugging on to get him to stop._

"_Lad-"_

"_I know, I know. I just want to get something to drink before I go to bed. It's hot in here."_

_Steely blue eyes regarded her in what she thought was suspicion before he responded. "I'll get it for-"_

"_No, _I'll_ get it for me." She continued quickly when he looked about decided to pick her up, she hated when people did that. "It's just the kitchen and back, I don't get why you're making such a big deal out of this. I know my body's limits, Dante, so trust me when I say that I can do that much."_

"_Fine," The half-devil let out a heavy sigh before dropping her wrist, raking his newly free hand through white strands in irritation with himself. What could he say, old habits die hard. "Just hurry it up, will you?" She muttered something unintelligible but had to be undoubtedly a cheeky remark before she disappeared into the back of the shop where the kitchen was located._

_Walking back to his chair, he plopped down onto it with another sigh, burying his face in one palm. Feeling two sets of eyes on him he looked back up, catching sight of his older brother and his companion watching him. "What?" he asked, tone on borderline with annoyance. In the back, he could hear the tap turn on._

_Trish regarded him, azure irises serious-a rarity for her-and intent on his own. "She's getting worse." She turned her gaze away from him to focus instead on the happenings proceeding on the television across from her. Missing the way the half-man's eyes hardened and his chin became taunt, she continued. "She's in here with a t-shirt and shorts on talking about how hot it is when I'm sure you've noticed it's a little below fifty-degrees outside-and in here's no better."_

_The devil hunter raked another hand through his hair. "Well, of course I've noticed." he scoffed, "That's my shirt she's stretching out."_

"_Dante!"_

"_What?" Meeting her glare-another rarity- head on for a second, he gave his head another rake down the middle. If he kept that up, he would probably start balding within the decade. "I know it's getting worse, alright? I'm just not sure what the hell it is I'm supposed to do-"_

_She cut back in before he could finish. "I'm sure you have a pair of handcuffs lying around somewhere, so chain her to the bed or whatever-force feed her if you have to! Shit, it's bad to the point that she can't even keep food down anymore. She's probably lost more weight than she's gained through the last few months. I know Lady's stubborn, but she's stubborn to a fault. If she keeps this up, she's going to kill herself and your child."_

_Dante suddenly found it harder to swallow with that knot taking up space in the back of his throat. He knew Trish was right, he could feel that her wrist was thinner than what he remembered it being weeks ago. Anything besides ice cream, and sometimes pizza, was guaranteed to take a second trip back up and he knew if she did in fact keep doing what she was doing he would most likely…_

_Shit, he couldn't even think it. Just the thought of losing a child he didn't even know yet was bad enough, but Lady? That wasn't something he was willing to experience. He was a selfish person by nature he knew-humans were naturally selfish creatures, his demon half only made the problem worse- if he had to choose one or the other, he knew exactly who he would want to live. He only hoped he would never have to make that decision._

_Pushing the heels of his palms to his eyes, he gave off a groan, sinking lower into his seat as he brought his hands to rest his calloused hands upon the desk in front of him, gaze now facing the ceiling. All of this thinking was starting to give him a headache. Maybe he was going at this all wrong. What he really needed to do was start small._

_Unfortunately, he wasn't in possession of a pair of handcuffs._

"_Did you hear that?"_

_Caught off guard by the random inquiry, Dante turned to the demoness, a pale brow rising in one of his own. "Hear what?" he asked._

_Instead of giving a response, she got up from where she had been previously seated on the faded crimson sofa and headed off in the direction that Lady had vanished into moments ago. Shrugging it off, he turned to the only other occupant currently residing in the room. Vergil stared back at his younger sibling with eyes more gray than blue, his thin mouth shut with the intention of not being the one to start a conversation._

_Dante truly didn't expect anything less. "What do you think I should do, V?"_

_His brother smirked, a white canine peeking through from between his lips, "I would personally prefer tying her down and force feeding her as the better method."_

"_I bet you would." The younger twin laughed. Smirk or no smirk he knew that his brother probably would prefer that option. His laughter cut short, however, when his brother suddenly stood, eyes a bit wider than their normal half-lid as he stared at something behind him._

"_What…?"_

"_Dante."_

_Turning to face Trish, as it was her voice that had sounded behind him, he felt his breath catch as he caught sight of where the she-demon stood, But his eyes weren't on her. It was instead focused on the body in which she held. With one arm supporting her back and the other under her thighs, the woman lay motionlessly, her breathing rapid and even more sweat dousing her forehead._

_Turned out Lady didn't know her body's limitations as much as she thought she did._

-Dante-

I had never been a big fan of hospitals.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a nosocomephobiac by any means, there was just something about the place that always seemed to have me edge. Besides the fact that it smelled like an abnormal mixture of medicine and death, I found it strange that the doctors and nurses that worked there thought it was alright to let their sick-in both the physical and psychological aspect- patients wander around the halls freely. I mean, they were there for a reason, right? Why waste your time walking around the blank white corridors when you could be using that time to stay in bed and get better. That way, you could be out of the hospital faster and walk around in _open_ _air_ as much as you damn well pleased.

And that was another thing: The freaking walls. There's this thing called paint, but I'm pretty sure that they must've had some type of private memo thing to pass from hospital to hospital that says to leave the walls bleach white. I don't know who the hell they were trying to fool by putting up those lame attempts at pictures that randomly decorated the walls, but they failed miserably. It made the too white walls look worse than they already were…which was pretty bad already, considering my eyes were watering from just the sight of staring at them for too long. Seriously, who would want to be cooped up in this place for a day, or better yet, weeks. Maybe it was just me and my super smart logic of wanting to get the hell out of this place ASAP.

But enough bitching about that, I sound like my brother. There's actually worse things than the strong smells of overused cleaning products and walls that could burn your eyes right out of their sockets. Well, not _things_ necessarily, but people. Like, take this man for example,

"…It's obvious that this thing is acting more like a tumor than the embryo it's supposed to be…"

This Talisman or whatever the hell the dude said his name was, was being a bigger asshole than Vergil was on his best days. No, that wasn't right. I don't think even Vergil would've tolerated this guy's attitude for a minute before he started slicing and dicing.

"…According to this chart," He flipped through what I'm assuming was Lady's chart thing before he, unfortunately, decided to open that mouth of his again. "She's lost more weight than she has gained throughout her first trimester. If this keeps up, both she and the fetus are going to die…"

Almost the exact words I've heard before. Though, unlike Trish, there was no concern for the mother of my future child or said child in his voice. Nothing but cold indifference like he was just stating facts and there weren't two important lives at stake. Was this really how doctors were in these days?

"…The best option would be to terminate the pregnancy now before things become too complicated."

To put it short, this man was trash.

"No."

"No?" It was obvious he wasn't expecting this response to his not question. He brought a pale hand up, pushing away a couple gray strands obscuring his vision from the glass lenses of his bifocals, brow furrowed in aggravation. Just looking at his face for too long was making me feel the same. "Sir, have you not heard a thing I've said? She continues to waste away even now as we speak, what you're implicating by your refu-"

"I know exactly what it is I'm saying. Now, I'm pretty sure we're done with this conversation," I stood straight from where I was previously reclined against the wall. It would be best if I left now before the desire to break this asshole's glasses from off his face overcame any sense of rationality I held on to. He was lucky I still had any. The only thing keeping him unscathed was the fact that he was somehow indirectly connected to Lady and her health. Her health was the only thing I cared about, not any of this other shit he was spitting. "Where's her room?"

Cold hazel eyes seemed to contemplate me for a moment before he turned on his heel, the bottom half of his doctor's coat flapping behind him with the movement, and started down the bright deserted hallway-that now seemed less of an eyesore after I met this prick- before he spoke. "It's right this way. Follow me."

"You can just tell me the num-Damn it." I cursed when he ignored the suggestion and continued down the corridor, leaving me no choice but to follow him. "Tch, Bastard."

I'm not sure how long we walked or how many corners we must've turned down before we came upon room 904. Guessing by the way Steve Taliman-is what I caught a glimpse of his nametag stating, not that I cared- knocked on the door before slowly entering, this had to be where Lady was staying. I probably wouldn't have found it on my own since there wasn't a name on the outside of the door's sign. Stopping short before I bumped into the other man's back as he came to a short stop also, I examined the untouched white sheeted empty bed and the…Hold up…_Empty_?

The room was empty?

"Oh, dear. It looks to me as though my patient has disappeared." The prick. He had the nerve to sound amused.

"She. Did _not-_"You see? This is what I meant about the doctors and nurses not watching their crazy patients-'cause that's what Lady is. _Crazy._ I know this for sure now- because they vanish to who-knows-where, knowing damn well they're sick and can barely stand up straight for more than a few secondsbefore they fall over. And instead like to go wandering down eyesores for hallways-she had better not be outside- instead of resting in bed like they were supposed to.

It's official, I'm getting the handcuffs.

Also official was the fact that this old fart wouldn't be the one to go look for her, not that I expected anything less. "I'm gonna go look for her."

"There is no need for that."

Turning to where the familiar voice of Vergil had come from, I stopped short in my short-lived search for the missing female. How could I have forgotten? Both him and Trish were left with her when I went to go talk with the same asshole that was now pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose beside me. At least with them there it guaranteed she wouldn't make it to the entrance/exit of the hospital to leave to where I'm certain would have been back to shop.

When the trio finally came to a stop before me, I stared the woman down. "You should be ashamed of yourself, you know that?"Glaring at me for a second, she turned away with a huff, pink lips pouted out in irritation as she muttered something under her breath. Not like that was anything new, she was always irritated. I turned to Vergil. "How far did she make it?" I couldn't help but ask.

It was Trish that answered, her hand still held at the small of Lady's back, no doubt to make sure she didn't try to make a break for it. "You'd be surprised. She actually made it pretty damn far. With as big as she is, you'd think she'd be slower."

"Hey, I'm not that big!"

"With how big she is, she shouldn't be moving at all." Vergil said crossly.

"Whatever." Lady scoffed, not looking the least bit sorry, "These two are just sour 'cause I put the slip on them. And I would've made it, too, if it wasn't for this one," she nodded towards Vergil, "And his busty blonde companion." She spit the last three words out, aiming a nasty look at the blonde beside her.

Trish rolled her eyes, not at all bothered by what was supposed to be an insult. "Dante must be rubbing off on you. I swear you're getting more dramatic by the day. Oh, yeah, that reminds me," she gave me a look I didn't like, "I still haven't told you about the show he put on during our stay in Fortuna. You'll find it quite enjoyable, it involves confetti."

"Confetti, you say?" With one quick glance in my direction, she let Trish usher her into the room, Dr. Douche-bag following behind them.

I turned to face Vergil when I felt his eyes on me only to find him giving me a funny look. Heaving a sigh, I cursed Trish and her big mouth under my breath. Did she have no boundaries? That fight with Mr. Grasshopper wasn't even supposed to get out. And it shouldn't have. Unless they had some unknown cameras in the area I didn't know about…Aw, crap. That was probably it.

"Dude, I swear I didn't know there were cameras."

If possible, his look became weirder. "Not that, idiot. Who was that man?"

"Oh." I scratched at the back of my head. Well, that was one less thing I had to explain. But now that I thought about it, "Actually I had been wondering about that too. I thought you said Lady's doctor was a chick?"

He nodded, "She is a female, yes."

"Well, this guy's claiming the same so either she's off today or she got replaced. To tell you the truth, I'd rather it be the former, I don't like this guy." It was unfortunate that I couldn't do away with him like I did all the things and/or people I didn't like since I couldn't sense anything demonic or demon related about him. With how my brother was acting, I'm sure he felt the same.

"Explain."

"Well-"

"In short, he's an asshole, a bigger one than you are. No offense, Vergil."

"…"

"That's one way to sum it up." We watched as Trish exited the room, the door closing behind her with a soft click. "What happened to you?"

"Lady kicked me out," she stated nonchalantly, leaning up against the wall near the door. "Doc said he wanted to talk to her about a few things privately."

"And you left her in there?"

"Hey, I just said _Lady_ kicked me out. Her word is law around these parts."

"Yeah, right." I scoffed, giving her a look, "You probably said something."

"…"

"Damn it." Man did I hate it when I was right about something Trish did. A simple comment from her always turned into more trouble than it was worth. "What the hell did you say?"

"What are you talking about?" she feigned ignorance, looking more interested in the framed picture of a flower pot on the wall across from her. "I didn't say anything."

"Tri-"

"Quiet, he's coming out."

"Wha-?"

When the metal knob on the tan colored wooden door turned, I knew what she was talking about. Appearing in the doorway a second later, Steve came to a stop when he caught sight of the three of us…just standing there…watching him. Shifting his weight to his other foot, he pushed up his glasses in the first show of discomfort, clearing his throat before he spoke.

"I suggest she be put on strict bed rest. I've prescribed her some prenatal vitamins that should be taken three times a day with food. I'll be back with the prescription, you'll be free to leave after I give it to you." With that and a short look at the lot of us, he turned on his heel and strode away.

"Hmm, he seemed flustered." Trish commented. Why there was a grin in her voice, I have no clue.

"Yeah," I nodded, a hand coming up to rub at my chin. I would need to shave soon, I noted. "Wonder why that was…"

"Do you really?" she asked, twirling a blonde lock around her finger, "I think the answer's quite obvious. And here you thought _I_ was trouble when the real problem was cooped up in there with him."

"She was, wasn't she?" I chuckled. I really shouldn't've been worried, Lady knew how to handle herself without any outside help. Hopefully she used words instead of her fists to solve this problem. Then again, he deserved to catch one in the face if he said any of the shit he said to me to her…What the hell am I saying? She was supposed to be on bed rest not beating people up. I sighed to myself. Maybe I was part of the problem.

"We'll see you two downstairs."

My hand paused from where it had been currently twisting the door knob so I could enter the room when I heard Trish speak. "Where're you going?" I asked as I watched the two of them start down to the two metal doors to call up the elevator.

"Bringing the car around." She answered simply, shrugging on her black leather jacket, "You can use this time to go in there and try to talk some sense into Girly. Knowing her and her inability to sit still for more than a few minutes, she'll forego that order for bed rest."

That was all too true. I was finding it weird on how many points Trish had been making these days. Unlike the quick and sarcastic comments she would usually give any other time, she seemed to be giving her words more thought. Lady should feel grateful that she had friends that worried about her well-being.

With a nod, I pushed open the door to Lady's temporary room and stepped inside, the light _ding_ and the shifting sounds of metal gears on metal gears signaling the elevator's arrival muted out as the thick door shut. This room, just like the other ones, was unsurprisingly white. White bed sheets to go with the white bed, white walls, and white curtains. Even the TV hanging from a corner of the room looked washed out. The only non-white thing hanging about was a monochrome framed picture of a…a very deformed cat, I think it was, and that also failed to add any character to this place. The only real color was coming through the window in the form of a purple and orange afterglow, resulted from the late afternoon sunset.

Well, that and the pink and blue dressed woman occupying those white sheets.

"Can we go home yet?"

I sighed for what was probably the fiftieth time today, sinking onto the stiff bed beside her. How the hell would a patient get any sleep on this thing? "No, not yet. There's still that prescription for those whatever vitamins he needs to write out for you-"

"Why the hell does he need to prescribe _vitamins_ for me?"

"I don't know, but you're gonna take them. You're also on bed rest, ya here? Don't make that face, I'm serious."

"_Okay_. Anything else you feel the need to order me to do?" She asked sarcastically before turning away. She looked back when I didn't offer up a response, a black eyebrow raised in inquiry. "What?" she asked.

"I'm thinking about buying you handcuffs." I shrugged causally, my gaze not roaming from her own.

"Handcuffs?" Her previously annoyed eyes narrowed at me in suspicion.

"Yeah, to keep you in bed with."

Those previously narrowed eyes widened in almost horror. "_You_ _wouldn't_-"

"I would." I interrupted, poking her slightly protruding belly, "You wanna try me?"

"No thanks, I believe you." She sniffed haughtily, rubbing at her inflicted stomach, "I would expect nothing less from a pervert like you."

"Perv-You're the perverted one! I wasn't even thinking about that." When I caught her trying to hide a grin behind her hand, the teal and russet eyes I came to love so much twinkling in amusement, I knew she was playing with me. The trifling woman. I felt a grin pull at my lips as I grabbed for her leg. "C'mere."

Lady laughed for the first time in days, trying-and failing miserably- to pry her leg out of my grip. "Wai-Dante, _no_!"

_Eight Days Later_

Surprisingly, Lady actually listened to what I told her to do and spent the week in bed. It was only after a battle of epic proportions in which Trish and I had to hold her down while Vergil tried to force feed her her vitamins that we decided she would probably be better off without them. If anyone asked about that particular incident, I would tell them that the only reason we failed was because I couldn't afford to take anymore feet to the face, Vergil was fast running out of patience of getting his fingers unmercifully chewed on and was only seconds away from grabbing Yamato, and Trish couldn't afford to lose another lock of hair-how a lighter got involved, I can't be sure- but the truth of the matter was, I didn't trust those pills. I mean, after all the shit he spitting about cold bloodedly killing the kid, and then suddenly deciding to prescribe _vitamins_ of all things, who would?

Besides, it wasn't like they were needed anyway. Come to find out Lady was just suffering from a simple case of exhaustion. The only reason it was so bad, according to Trish, was because little Dante Jr. was developing faster than what was normal-I guess devil's blood would do that to you- and Lady, the idiot, didn't know how to sit still for more than a minute. Not that that was a problem now. She spent a majority of the time in bed sleeping, unfortunate-I mean, _not_ unfortunately- without the use of handcuffs. But that was all right too. I would just have to find a different reason to buy them. Not for the kinky purpose your perverted mind is probably thinking, but for you know…like…uh…

The other minority of the time was spent either eating or taking a bath, because showers were slippery, with the watchful of Trish. I still don't know why it was Trish who was the one that needed to keep an eye on her; I even offered my humble assistance many, many times. I mean, it's not like I haven't seen it all anyway, right? My dumb ass actually said that last part out loud. I think I still have the bruises…

Basically, the only times she wasn't in bed was when she was in the bathroom.

Well, at least that's how it _had_ been until recently. If you really wanted the specifics, I would tell you that the change happened on this day, around this time.

"Lady, go back to bed."

"No."

In the future, when I thought back on this moment to use for reference-since there would most likely be more- I would come to notice the three things I had done wrong that undoubtedly led to my unfortunate defeat in this upcoming argument.

"I'm not going back up there."

"And why the hell not?"

Mistake #1: I kept her talking. It was obvious that Lady had the proper attributes that enabled her to do multiple things at once. In this case, she was able to both talk and descend the stairs at the same time. If I had just gotten up, picked her up, and brought her back to bed the moment she reached the second step instead of asking questions, this wouldn't have been a problem. Alas, I did not.

"Well, for one, I've been up there for more than a week," she said snidely, clearing another three steps- only seven more to go. "And for the other, I just don't want to, so shut up." I wonder if she knew how much of a brat she sounded like with that last sentence.

"Lady-"

"No. I don't know what you want me in back up there for anyway. I don't feel sick anymore, if that's what you're worried about."

Actually, that was sort of what I was worried about. She was doing a lot better keeping her food down since she wasn't stressing herself out more with unnecessary body movements, and her skin was back to its natural alabaster shade complete with the healthy flush of her cheeks. The other thing that had me worried was the fact that if she stayed downstairs instead of in bed, she wouldn't be staying still for much longer and then we'd be back to square one. I refused to go through that again.

I told her this. She doesn't listen.

Nothing new really, it would be weird if she didn't shrug off anyone's concern for her, she was too independent for her own good. If I really had to, I wouldn't hesitate to drag her back to bed. I also told her this, but instead of sounding at least a bit grateful for having someone fuss over her health, the brat only had this to say,

"Then do it."

And since she asked so nicely, that's exactly what I did…Well, sans the dragging part, but I did pick her up. Which leads us to Mistake #2: I came within arm's length of her. Not a good thing for several reasons, you can guess, but even she wasn't crazy enough to try to fight me on the stairs (surprisingly) so I didn't have to worry about that. Her anger wasn't anything new to me, I was immune to it. I knew that and she knew that, so that was another less thing to worry over.

What I did not know, however, was that she had something else in her artillery- metaphoric, not literal- that should've had me worried. But it was something she never used on me before so I didn't know about it, and would have continued to not know about it if I had stopped talking already and didn't say the wrong thing that would eventually give her the ammunition to use it.

"…I mean, seriously, I went through all that trouble of putting a TV in your room for this reason. There's nothing you can do down here that you can't do upstairs."

"But I'm not alone down here."

Mistake #3: I stopped. If there's one thing you should never do, it's stop. Especially when you already have your first foot planted on the last step before the landing. But you can't really fault me for that. I've never in the years I've known Lady-more than a decade by the way- heard her sound so… so _sad_.

"I know I've been a lot of trouble, and I'm sorry for that. But Dante," she sniffed, "You're all down here all the time and I'm _upstairs_…_in_ _bed_…all _alone_, and I _can't_-" she broke off with another sniff, "Please don't make me go back up there." She finished in a whisper, hiccupping this time.

_Maybe_, I can recall thinking to myself as I stared straight ahead, _it'll help if I don't look at her._

Unfortunately, it was already too late for that; Mistake #2 was coming into play. Using the arm's length thing to her advantage, she grabbed a hold of my chin and turned my face to face her- and Holy _Shit_, were those _tears_? Was she _crying_?

If there was any chance in hell that I could've somehow gotten out of this with it ending in my favor, it was gone now. Those 'tears' fake or no, sealed the deal. She had already won, I knew and she knew it, but for some unknown reason, probably to add to Trish's amusement, she continued to stare me down with those heterochromatic watery ones of hers and said in the most breathy tone she could manage,

"_Dante_…"

Well, that was that.

No amount of cursing my weak heart when it came to her or Lady in general could change the fact that I was already back on the ground floor, ignoring Vergil's scything comment of "Pathetic.", ignoring all of Trish since she wouldn't be making me feel any better about the situation, and setting Lady gently-as much as I wanted to drop her, it just couldn't be done- onto the sofa where said blonde resided, I gave just one last command to make me feel as if this wasn't an entire loss.

"Stay here."

"Sure." She shrugged uncaringly. None of the tears or heart wrenching sniffles from her previous dramatics in her voice, nor was she looking at all concerned as she sank deeper into the couch cushions. "Whatever."

As I walked back to my work desk to totally not sulk over my not loss over our brief altercation-because we came to an agreement, damnit- I could swear that I heard the skin-on-skin contact of what sounded suspiciously like a high-five.

"You know," This was Trish's voice, "If you ever retire, you should think about becoming an actress." In the background, someone snickered, I have no doubt from whom it came from.

"I know, right?" Lady said. With that finishing thought, they both laughed. Cackling is what I called it.

The bitches.

...

For it being the month of September, it happened to be a damn nice day outside. The sun was out in full force, hitting the concrete streets and buildings to make the weather a hot but comfortable eighty-three-degrees. While others may take this day and use it by spending their time at the park with friends or family spread out on checkerboard blankets swapping cheery memories as they enjoyed handmade delectables-for it wasn't everyday Capulet City was blessed with this kind of weather- Dante opted to stay indoors to very wisely, in his opinion, catch up on sleep.

_And why shouldn't I_, he thought as he lay as spread-eagle as his buff body could manage on the three-seater couch, the television set on a low volume across from him. It had been a busy week so far and he doubted it would be ending now. As a matter of fact, he estimated the next person would be calling in with a job in a few hours, so why not nap until then. It wasn't like there was anyone around to stop him. Well, anyone who cared, actually. His emo brother was hanging about in the back somewhere, doing who-knew-what with his time, Dante didn't really care. What he did care about, however, was getting in some shut eye before the girls got back, or worse, Patty decided to stop by for a random visit with that troublesome cousin of hers.

The sounds of two car doors slamming shut outside the shop let him know that he didn't act fast enough. The half-devil groaned, the arm that had previously been slung across his bare torso coming up to cover the top half of his face. Maybe if he played possum, Trish would leave him alone. Lady was usually fine with leaving him to his own devices now-a-days, it was Trish that, for some reason, didn't like anyone relaxing in her presence.

Or maybe that rule only applied to him.

Before he could think too much more into that thought, the double doors creaked open (he should really consider getting those things oiled), two pairs of footsteps and the crinkling sounds of shopping bags following in their wake. Dante noted as he stayed still, that both pairs of feet were leading further away from him, probably somewhere near his desk, so maybe there was hope after-

"Hey, you, wake up!" This accompanied with something coming into contact with his head let him know that hoping for some peace and quiet was futile in anything concerning the blonde.

"Trish, let him sleep."

"Never."

Dante sighed and sat up, ice-blue orbs opening in time to catch the she-demon vanish into the back. With that trouble making witch now out of the way, he set his sights on the ebony-haired female currently sipping something out of a styrofoam cup. "How was the check-up?" he asked.

"It was fine," she glanced up from where she was previously looking at a piece of paper, from he could see, on his desk before looking back down at it. "Sorry about Trish, she had caffeine and you know how she gets with that stuff. You can go back to sleep now."

"Too late for that." He stretched his arms over his head with a yawn before he stood up. The pale haired half-man made a face as he caught sight of neatly wrapped peppermint sitting innocently on the arm of the couch and made a mental note to eat it later as payback for smacking him one on the head. Absently rubbing at the top of his cranium in memory, he lazily shuffled his bare feet over to where the female stood. "What's that?" he gestured to the white cup in her hand.

Lady shrugged casually, not noticing how intent his eyes were on the cup. "Strawberry smoothi-Hey!"

Ignoring the woman's protest, he took a sip of the cold drink-

And promptly choked.

"W-What the hell," he sputtered, wiping some of the drink from where it dripped down his chin when he coughed, "I thought you said this was strawberry."

"It is strawberry," she said, giving his a devious smile, "And tomato. That's what you get by the way." She reached a hand for the cup and frowned when he instead pulled it away to take the straw back into his mouth. When he shrugged in response to her raised brow, she rolled her eyes, taking the small rectangular-shaped piece of black and white paper into her hand to pass on to him.

He took the paper of what he was now seeing was a black and white photo without inquiry, looking it over for a minute before he took the straw out of his mouth to ask, "What is it?"

She used this chance to take her drink back, huffing in disappointment when it turned up empty. "Just look." She ordered irritably, shaking the cup futilely before slamming it on the top of his desk.

The devil hunter stopped short on giving a sarcastic remark when he caught sight of what looked like a small head and body in the black and white of the photo. Scrunching his eyes up a bit, he felt his breath catch in his throat when he saw it again. It was still a little blurry-that was only from the way the picture had been taken and had nothing to do with his eyesight- but the form was still there. Dante felt some emotion he wasn't yet able to name tighten in his chest as he went from staring at the photo to Lady's rounded abdomen from where it was visible beneath the purple fabric of her shirt and back again before looking to her face in question. "Is this…?"

"Yeah," she said without him having to finish. One small alabaster hand coming up to rub at her belly with a fondness he wasn't yet well acquainted with as soft dual-toned irises met with his straight on. "That's our baby."

* * *

**A/N: **Alright, so there's this random cat that keeps rubbing up against while I'm typing this so if there's any typos, not my fault. I gave it some chicken but maybe that was bad of me...Anyways, I'm already working on chapter 5 so that'll be out fairly soon. I've also uploaded a couple other things-including my 3 year old fanfic (started that over btw)- so you can go check those out while you wait! Well, tell me what you thought of this one! Til next time!


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